Jack White Releases 3 RPM Record

Good things come in threes. Jack White’s Third Man Records recently celebrated its third anniversary. At their anniversary party, they gave away– get this– the world’s first 3 RPM record. No, not 33 RPM. THREE RPM. That means it’s intended to spin on a record player at three revolutions per minute, which is pretty much impossible. The record contains every “Blue Series” single the label has ever released.

Here’s how Third Man describes the thing:
The world’s first 3 RPM record is a study in contradictions– it’s cut at the slowest speed yet it plays faster than anything you’ve ever heard. It’s a compilation of 7 inch records but it’s packaged like a 12 inch. But the 12 inch sleeve is made like our 7 inch sleeve (as it is one continues piece of paper folded in half and put into an acetate sleeve). A bit like a snake eating its own tail. It comes with three bumper stickers yet there is no bumper. We gave it away for free yet given what it has fetched on eBay it is proving to be fairly valuable. It’s easy to play but impossible to hear. You put your finger on it to slow it down, but this is no easy task (as evidenced by theseYouTube videos) and we estimate it would take 333 days of 33 hours training per day for your finger, hand, and arm muscles to spin at a continuous speed of 3 rpm for X hours and X minutes.